Though the rise in average temperatures over India in 2019 was the lowest since 2016, according to a report from the India Meteorological Department (IMD, the year that went by was the 7th warmest, since record-keeping commenced in 1901.
During the year, the annual mean surface air temperature was +0.36C above average (defined as the mean temperature from 1980-2010).
The highest warming observed over India was during 2016, 0.71C above the mean. While 2018 was the 6th warmest in India with 0.41C above the mean, 2017 was 0.55C warmer.
According to the World Meteorological Organisation, the rise in global mean surface temperature during 2019 (January to October) was +1.10C.
Main contributors
The main contributors to the warming this year were temperatures in the pre-monsoon (March-May) and monsoon seasons (June-September), said the IMD report titled ‘Climate Summary’.
“There is no declining trend. The only pattern is that global warming is raising average temperatures globally, as well as in India,” said M. Mohapatra, Director-General, IMD.
2019 was also characterised by high rainfall, which was 9% over what is normal for a year. This was due to the monsoon rains (June-September) being 10% over its normal, and the northeast monsoon rains being 9% over its normal.
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